Job Applications – 5 Things I Love

Previously I wrote an article on job applications, and the type of things which I hate receiving from candidates applying for a position. This was coming from my as an employer, not as some recruitment company. It was my frustrations as an employer, directly responsible for hiring an actual person for a specific role.

So, to be fair, I am now writing the things I love to see on job applications. My hope is that both this article, and the past one will equip you, by giving you some greater insight into the mind of an employer looking for an employee.

Here is part two – my list of things to do, when emailing in your job application. This may be different from what you hear from a recruitment company, who specialises in collecting resumes and putting more names on their books. This is written from me as an employer – the person directly responsible for hiring you.

Things I love seeing:

1. A tailored resume. When I open up a resume and I can see that it has been custom fitted to suit the advertised position, I get a warm feeling inside. I love the fact that someone is really serious about wanting this role, and has taken the time to cut out anything not pertinent to the role, and made sure that even the descriptions under each employment or qualification shows that they are the right person for the role. These will always make it to interview stage.

2. A cover letter. When I advertise a job position I always request that interested parties email me their resume and address the criteria listed in the job description. So, naturally I really love it when I get a cover letter which has broken up the criteria points into sub-headings, and then written specifically why they meet the criteria below each heading. This not only shows they are serious about wanting the job, but it makes life much easier for me when choosing who I am going to interview, and who I am not.

3. Cover letter and resume as an attachment. Might sound strange, or nit-picky, but as an employer often sorting through many resumes, it makes my life frustration free when I get a resume and a cover letter as an attachment (or 2 attachments). This allows me to quickly save the files to a folder on my computer, so I can look at them later. This is much preferred than having them embedded into the email itself.

4. Clearly named files. When I receive the many job application emails I need to quickly save them to a folder, for later review. So what makes my life easier is a resume labelled clearly with your name and the word ‘resume’ on it. And then if you send a separate cover letter I need your name and the words ‘cover letter’ in the file name. I love it when people have taken the time to make sure that their name is clearly shown in the file name. This means I don’t have to waste time editing the file so I can find it easily later on.

5. Relevant information. In the resume and cover letter, tell me briefly who you are and why you want the role. Give me the relevant information that I need. Again, I love it when people have obviously taken the time to think about the role before simply email through their standard resume.

This is coming from someone who hires people directly for job positions, and is also very busy all the time. The best thing you can do is to impress the person with the power to hire you, before you have even met.